1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for software management in a distributed system. In particular, the invention provides a method and apparatus for verifying the software configuration of a distributed system.
2. Background Information
Distributed computing systems can have a variety of hardware configurations. Each hardware configuration can have a variety of software configurations. Further, each software item in the distributed system can be further comprised of a plurality of software components. Thus, the correct software configuration for the distributed system depends on the hardware that should be present, the software items that should be present for the hardware, and the software components that should be present for the software items.
Software items may be replaced individually or be corrupted. Some software items may be contained in particular pieces of hardware that may be replaced individually. As a result, the software configuration can be altered by software maintenance, hardware maintenance, or corruption of system storage. What is needed is a method for verifying the software configuration of a distributed system based on data defining the expected hardware configuration and data defining the software items.
A software record that identifies a software component associated with a processor in a distributed processing system is retrieved from a software configuration database. A check value is calculated for a copy of the software component loaded on the processor. The check value is compared to a second check value retrieved from the software record to verify the software component file.